Bulgaria may present Ukraine with minority rights demands during EU accession talks

According to the outlet Suspilne, citing sources, Bulgaria is preparing to present Ukraine with demands on national minority rights as part of negotiations over Kyiv’s accession to the European Union — following Hungary, which has already been seeking similar concessions.

According to the outlet’s sources, Sofia intends to secure additional guarantees for the educational rights of the Bulgarian minority in Ukraine. One EU diplomat explained the nature of Bulgaria’s grievances:

“I heard from them that the Bulgarians want to ensure the educational rights of their minority in Ukraine. They have this problem that their people abroad usually speak Russian, and they want to develop the Bulgarian language,” the diplomat said.

Negotiations with Hungary are continuing in parallel. According to Suspilne, the question of representation of the Hungarian national minority in the Verkhovna Rada remains unresolved. The parties have set this point aside for now — Hungary nonetheless agreed to the opening of the first cluster of negotiations on Ukraine’s EU accession. The parties agreed to turn to the Venice Commission and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for clarification on a possible mechanism for implementing this demand.

It was previously reported that Ukraine and Hungary signed an agreement on expanding the rights of Hungarians in Ukraine. In addition, Hungary lifted its veto on the allocation of EUR 6.6 billion in aid to Ukraine from the European Peace Facility.